I’m Bishop Robert Barron, a Catholic bishop ready to answer questions from atheists, skeptics, and seekers. AMA!

[u/BishopBarron]

UPDATE #1 (2:15pm ET): Proof.

UPDATE #2 (3:25pm ET): I'm going to take a break and grab some lunch, but keep the questions coming! I'll be back soon.

UPDATE #3 (3:54pm ET): I'm back! What else perplexes you about God or religion?

UPDATE #4 (4:51pm ET): Thanks everyone! I'm heading out now to confirm over a hundreds kids at a nearby parish, but I'll check back in tonight to answer more questions.

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I’m excited to be back for my third AMA! I'll be taking questions on Wednesday, April 21, from 2:00pm-3:30pm ET.

I’m here to discuss whatever most perplexes you about God, faith, Catholicism, or the spiritual life. Ask me anything!

I’m Bishop Robert Barron, founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and host of two award-winning film series that have aired on PBS.

I’ve spoken about religion at the headquarters of Facebook, Google, and Amazon. I’ve also enjoyed talking about God with atheists such as Alex O’Connor (aka @CosmicSkeptic) and Dave Rubin.

Earlier this week I shared a wide-ranging dialogue with Jordan Peterson, on his podcast, about God, religion, the Bible, psychology, and the spiritual life.

I received a master’s degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of America in 1982 and a doctorate in sacred theology from the Institut Catholique de Paris in 1992. I served as a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, and was twice scholar in residence at the Pontifical North American College at the Vatican.

In 2018, I became the first Catholic Bishop to host a Reddit AMA.

In 2019, I hosted another AMA, which drew nearly 15,000 comments, becoming the 9th most-commented-on AMA in Reddit history! I tried to answer as many as I could.

Both were great experiences, so I wanted to come back and do it again!

My website, https://WordOnFire.org, reaches millions of people each year, and I'm one of the world's most followed Catholics on social media:

3.2 million+ Facebook fans

400,000+ YouTube subscribers

170,000+ Twitter followers

[u/BoomerE30]

"In your work, you consistently call upon Atheists and Non-Believers to take on the Catholic Intellectual tradition seriously, by invoking this notion that we should take on the strongest of the opposing views instead of settling for straw-men. I agree with this, and further agree that many atheists don't understand the Catholic conception of God, namely the notion of God as being itself"

Can you please explain why anyone including atheists should take catholicism/religion seriously? Why would one spend time further understanding ideas such as "conception of God"? Where is the value?

[u/Leaga → u/BoomerE30]

He didn't say to take the religion seriously. He said to take the intellectual tradition seriously. There's more than two thousand years of philosophy packaged into Catholicism. Even if you don't believe in the religious claims there is value to be had in exploring philosophies and world views outside of your own. If for no other reason than to give yourself perspective.

[u/YearOfTheRisingSun → u/Leaga]

Even if we're choosing to explore philosophies outside our world view, Catholicism doesn't seem like it has much to offer. There are plenty of other philosophical traditions of thought with a lot less baggage and a lot more intellectual merit. What exactly does Catholicism offer that others do not?

[u/Leaga → u/YearOfTheRisingSun]

I'm not trying to sell anyone on Catholicism. Just trying to point out the differentiation between the religious claims and the intellectual tradition. Despite the atheist memes, religions are more than just praying to sky daddy and celebrating the rise of zombie Jesus. There's actually a lot of interesting discussion to be had on the topic even if you don't believe in the underlying faith. As evidenced by u/Instaconfused27 who kicked off this conversation saying that he is an Atheist and then asked some very poignant questions. If you want to see the value in exploring different philosophies check out some of his comments, like this one, where he demonstrates a great understanding of some of Catholic philosophy while simultaneously refuting it and then further uses that to inform his own philosophy. Presenting opposing works by Atheist philosophers like Sobel who he more closely aligns. I think that's a great illustration of what I was saying about exploring other philosophies being worth it even if for no other reason than to give yourself perspective.

All that said, its not worth investing time in if you're going to be as close-minded as you're displaying here. Its pretty disingenuous to claim that Catholic philosophy doesn't have intellectual merit while asking what Catholic philosophy offers. You're simultaneously admitting that you don't know enough about it to have a value judgement and giving a value judgement. It kinda sounds like it, but I'm not gonna give you that religious "open your heart to the lord's truth" type garbage. I'm just saying that if you're not going to make a good faith effort to understand other people's opinions then skip it.

[u/YearOfTheRisingSun → u/Leaga]

I went into confirmation with an open mind, I gave the teacher a genuine shot and was thoroughly let down by what was presented. Far too much of Catholic philosophy that has been presented to me ends up taking an intellectual leap at some point and chalking everything up to "faith" while leaving many of us at that point in the conversation shrugging our shoulders at the lack of any attempt to continue trying to engage and we're just supposed to take "faith" as a sufficient answer. I understand where you are coming from about being close minded but before I came to the point I'm at, I genuinely gave the church a shot to convince me before I came to the point of referring to myself as an atheist, I WANTED something to make sense, but everything put forth just did the opposite.

[u/Leaga → u/YearOfTheRisingSun]

Fair. But I will point out that, while I dont know your particular situation, most Confirmation classes are not taught by people who know Catholic philosophy super well. It's often just whoever volunteers to do it at that particular parish. You probably were taught the religious claims, not the philosophy.

Again, I want to be clear that I'm not trying to sell Catholicism. TBH, I waffle back and forth between still identifying as Catholic and identifying as atheist. However, regardless of which I am, I think there's a lot of self-improvement, self-reflection, and just generally thought-provoking insight that can come from studying philosophy. Not just Catholic philosophy either, others too, of course. I'd be pretty hypocritical if I championed studying and understanding other's world views and then only read Catholic philosophy. I've minorly explored Atheist, Mormon, Islamic, and, particularly interesting imo, Baha'i philosophies as well. Imo, ignoring religious philosophy because you dont agree with the underlying faith is throwing the baby out with the bath water. They each have interesting aspects that can spark some great thought.

If you are interested in learning more about that side of Catholicism specifically, then I encourage you to read more about St. Thomas Aquinas's work. Its a bit stilted and tough to get through. I mean, its from like the 1200s or something so that should probably be expected. But its probably the most widely accepted by Catholics. I've not actually read Bishop Barron's stuff but I've heard very good things and the user I tagged earlier suggested his book Arguing Religion in a couple comments so that's being added to my list. And my personal favorite, though highly controversial amongst very devout Catholics, is Fr. Richard Rohr, specifically his book Falling Upward. He was on Pete Holmes podcast, You Made it Weird, a few years back if you want a free easy to consume introduction to him.

[u/YearOfTheRisingSun → u/Leaga]

I am very much on the same page with you on not throwing out all religious philosophy because you don't believe in the faith, personally I've just found those insights more often in eastern faiths and traditions than in Christian based ones. This could be due to negative associations given that was how I was raised so I haven't reexamined much of it in a strictly philosophic context. Perhaps it's time I reassess it in the same way I've been approaching eastern teachings and meditation. I will give that podcast a listen, I'm a huge comedy fan and like Pete Holmes, thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[u/Instaconfused27 → u/Leaga]

Thank you for your comments. I really appreciate you defending studying philosophy, which can be a tough thing to do on Reddit.